THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thank you. I always feel
better when I'm in Texas. (Applause.) Thanks for coming out. I'm
honored you are here. I appreciate you taking time out of your day.

I thank you for joining me and saying loud and clear to the people of
the 22nd congressional district: Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is the right
person to serve you in the United States Congress. (Applause.) She
served in public office before -- you might remember, she was a member
of the Houston City Council, where she helped pass tax cuts.
(Applause.) She's a doctor. She's a doctor, where she's helped heal
broken bodies. She is going -- she's a mother who understands the
importance of family values. She's the right person to send to
Washington, D.C. (Applause.)

If you'll give me a chance maybe to kind of serve as the secretary of
state for Texas for a second -- (laughter) -- for those who haven't been
paying attention to this election, yet want good government, you get to
vote twice -- (applause) -- for Shelley. You get to check her name in
the special election portion of the ballot, and then you get to write
her name in. See, if you want to send Shelley to the United States
Congress, you're going to have to take a pencil into the ballot box.

Now, you can bring a piece of paper with you that's got her name on it,
so you can copy it down on the ballot. So remember when you show up to
vote on November the 7th, bring your pencil, bring your paper and write
Shelley's name in for good government. (Applause.)

Laura sends her love. (Applause.) As President, I make a lot of
decisions, but the best decision I have made as a person is asking Laura
to marry me. (Applause.) Some of her friends are still wondering
whether the best decision she ever made was to say yes. (Laughter.)
But I'm real proud of her. She's a fantastic wife, a great mom, and a
great First Lady for the United States. (Applause.)

Speaking about great ladies, this state is fortunate to have Kay Bailey
Hutchison as the United States Senator. (Applause.) She is effective,
she is capable, she's all Texan. And it's important for this state to
send her back to the United States Senate with a strong, strong vote.
(Applause.)

I appreciate Kevin Brady joining us. He's the congressman from over
there. (Laughter.) I know him well. He's a good one. And I want to
thank my friend, Commissioner Michael Williams, who's joined us today.
(Applause.) I want to thank all the statehouse folks that are sitting
behind me. I remember serving with them when I was their governor. A
little different here in Texas than it is in Washington. (Laughter.)
These are good people, and I appreciate them joining us.

I want to thank the Mayor, Mayor David Williams, right here from Sugar
Land, Texas, for joining us. (Applause.) I thank all the grassroots
activists who've joined us. I want to thank you for the job you're
going to do, and that is turn out your neighbors on November the 7th
with a pencil and a piece of paper, and tell them to write in Shelley
Sekula-Gibbs to be the next United States congresswoman. (Applause.)

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to sprinting to the
finish line. (Applause.) I'm looking forward to this campaign. I like
campaigning. I like getting out and about the people. I like telling
them what's on my mind. You know, what's interesting in Washington,
some of the folks over there are already picking out their new offices.
(Laughter.)

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: That's not the first time it's happened since I've been
in Washington. You might remember, in 2004, some of them were measuring
the drapes in the West Wing. (Laughter.) They had their office suites
all picked out. Except their problem was, the movers weren't needed.
(Laughter and applause.) And the same thing is going to happen this
year. (Applause.) We're going to elect Shelley, and we're going to
control the House and the United States Senate. (Applause.)

We've got a record to run on. We've done some things that are positive
for the United States of America. For decades, the public schools
failed too many children. And so we passed the No Child Left Behind
Act, which demanded results in return for federal money. And now test
scores are rising, the achievement gap is beginning to close, and we're
bringing closer to the day when every single child in America gets their
quality education. (Applause.)

For decades, we've been growing too dependent on foreign oil. So we
passed a good energy bill that encourages conservation, additional
production for oil and gas in the United States. We're doing something
else that's smart, too: We're spending money on technology so that our
automobiles will be able to be running on crops grown right here in the
state of Texas. We want to be less dependent on foreign sources of oil.
(Applause.)

For decades, Medicare was outdated, so we did something about it. We
passed landmark legislation that modernized the Medicare system. Today,
33 million seniors have more choices and more access to affordable
drugs, and because of our action, poor seniors no longer have to choose
between food and medicine. (Applause.)

For decades, we hadn't had complete control over our southern border,
illegal immigration has been on the rise. So we acted. I sent the
National Guard down there to help the Border Patrol do their job.
(Applause.) We're adding thousands of new Border Patrol agents. We're
modernizing this border. We will reform our immigration system, and
this country of ours will inform our immigration laws. (Applause.)

For decades, activist judges have tried to redefine America by court
order. I don't know if you've been following what happened in New
Jersey recently -- another activist court issued a ruling that raises
doubts about the institution of marriage. We believe marriage is a
union between a man and a woman and should be defended. (Applause.)
And I believe I must continue to appoint judges who will strictly
interpret the law and not legislate from the bench. (Applause.)

No, we got a strong record to run on. This country is better off
because John Roberts and Sam Alito are serving on the Supreme Court of
the United States. (Applause.) And I want to thank Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchison for her strong support helping get those nominees on the floor
of the Senate and getting them confirmed as Supreme Court justices.
(Applause.)

Now, there are big differences between the Democrats and the
Republicans. Perhaps the two biggest differences can be seen in this
two issues: One, which party is going to keep your taxes low to keep
this economy growing; and which party is going to take the necessary
steps to protect the United States of America? (Applause.)

Let me start with taxes. Shelley and I have a clear philosophy. We
believe that you know how to spend your money far better than the
federal government can. (Applause.) We believe that when you have more
money in your pocket to save, invest or spend, the economy benefits.
(Applause.)

The Democrats want more of your money because they think they can spend
it better than you can.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: Over the past five years, we've acted on our philosophy.
In other words, we just didn't go to Washington to talk. We went to
Washington to get a job done on your behalf. We passed the largest tax
relief since Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States.
(Applause.)

When you're out there rounding up votes, remind them of this record: We
cut taxes on everyone who pays income taxes; we doubled the child tax
credit; we reduced the marriage penalty; we substantially cut taxes on
small businesses; we cut taxes on capital gains and dividends to
encourage investment and jobs; and to reward family businesses and
farmers, and ranchers for a lifetime of work, we put the death tax on
the road to extinction. (Applause.)

I know Senator Hutchison and Congressman Brady remember the debate in
Washington. They remember those Democrats predicting that the tax cuts
would not create jobs, would not increase wages, and would increase the
federal deficit. Well, the facts are in. The truth is, the tax cuts
have led to a growing economy that has added 6.6 million new jobs since
of August of 2003. (Applause.) Real wages are on the rise, and we cut
the deficit in half three years ahead of schedule. (Applause.)

Around this country, a lot of people don't understand the Democrats'
position on taxes. So part of my job is to clarify matters, is to make
it clear their intentions. Part of the confusion comes about because
the leading lady in the Congress proclaimed this -- you're not going to
believe what she said, but she actually said this on TV the other -- she
said, about the Democrats: We love tax cuts. The problem is, given her
record, she must be a secret admirer. (Laughter and applause.)

She and her party voted against reducing the marriage penalty, voted
against cutting taxes on small businesses, voted against taxes --
lowering taxes for families with children, voted against reducing taxes
on capital gains and dividends, voted against eliminating the death tax.
That's their record. Time and time again, when she had a chance to show
her love for tax cuts, she voted no.

My attitude is, if this is the Democrat's idea of love, I don't want to
see what hate looks like. (Laughter.)

Here's what happens: If we do not make the tax cuts we passed permanent
or extend the tax cuts, you'll get a tax increase. That's just the way
it is. You know, it's interesting, they asked the man who would be the
chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee -- the Democrat, who will
be the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, if the Democrats were
to take over the House -- which they're not -- (applause.) But here's
what he said -- it's important for Americans to know the facts. Here's
what he said. He said, when asked about extending the tax cuts or
making them permanent, he said he couldn't think of one of the tax cuts
he would extend. In other words, what they're telling you is they're
going to raise your taxes.

I want you to think about this. I want you to think about this. If the
child tax credit were to expire, your taxes will go up by $500 per
child. See, we increased the child tax credit from $500 to $1,000 per
child. For those of you with children, you know what I'm talking about.
If that tax cuts were to expire -- just like the man who wants to be the
head of the tax committee said -- your taxes per child go up $500. So
when you're eating dinner tonight and you're looking around the table,
you can take the number of children around your table and multiply it by
$500, and that's going to be part of the tax increase you have to pay.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: You take a family working hard to get ahead and they got
four children, they're looking at a $2,000 tax increase. That may not
seem like a lot to Democrats in Washington, D.C., but it seems like a
lot to me. And I know it's a lot for you. And the best way to make
sure it doesn't happen is to send Shelley to the United States Congress.
(Applause.)

So when they're out there campaigning and somebody comes up and says,
Shel, tell me the difference between what the Republicans are going to
do and the Democrats, it's real easy, we're going to keep your taxes
low, and they're going to raise your taxes. And a tax increase would
not only be bad for your wallet, a tax increase would be bad for the
economy of the United States of America.

We're meeting in historic times. This election is happening during
historic times. And when our children and grandchildren look back at
this period, one question is going to overwhelm all the rest: Did we do
everything in our power to fight and win the war on terror? (Applause.)

We face an enemy that is brutal. They have an ideology. It's the
opposite of our ideology. We love freedom. They hate freedom. They
will kill innocent people to achieve their objectives. You cannot
negotiate with these radicals and extremists. You can't hope for the
best with these radicals and extremists. The only way to protect
America, which is our most important job, is to stay on the offense and
bring them to justice before they can hurt us again. (Applause.)

Our most important job is to protect you. I wish I didn't have to
report that there's an enemy still out there, but there is. And they
want to attack again. We have to be right a hundred percent of the time
to protect the American people, and they have to be right one time in
order to achieve their objectives. And that's why I put some tools in
the hands of our professionals so they could better do their job.

You know, when I -- right after 9/11 when we analyzed part of the
problem, there was a wall that existed between our
intelligence-gathering people and our law enforcement, and they couldn't
share information. I know that's hard for you to believe. But that's
the way it was. So I asked Congress to pass the Patriot Act, and thanks
to senators like Kay Bailey Hutchison and congressmen like Kevin Brady,
we passed the Patriot Act. (Applause.)

In this different kind of war, we must understand what the enemy is
thinking in order to be able to protect you. And so, therefore, when we
found al Qaeda or al Qaeda affiliates making phone calls into the United
States, I thought it was important to understand why in order to protect
you. (Applause.)

We are picking up the enemy on the battlefield. And when we pick people
who understand what the plans are about attacks, we need to know what
they're thinking. See, this is a different kind of war. It requires
pinpoint intelligence, advanced knowledge in order for us to do our job.
And so we picked up people off the battlefield like Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed. You might have heard of him. He was the mastermind of the
9/11 attacks, at least that's what our intelligence people think. In
other words, he was the -- they think he was the person that organized
and ordered the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on one day. I
thought it was important to have the CIA be in a position to question
him, to find out what he knew in order to protect America. (Applause.)

If anybody has any doubts about the differences of opinion in
Washington, D.C. between Republicans and Democrats, I want them to
analyze the recent votes that took place on these important programs.
When it came time to renew the Patriot Act, more than 75 percent of the
House Democrats voted against it.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: When it came time to vote on whether or not to allow the
CIA to continue its program to detain and question captured terrorists,
more than 80 percent of House Democrats voted against it.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: When it came time to vote on whether the National
Security Agency should continue to monitor communications that we think
would be -- contain information that would protect you, more than 90
percent of the House Democrats voted against it.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: In all these vital measures for fighting a war on
terror, the Democrats in Washington follow a simple philosophy: Just
say no. (Laughter.) When it comes to listening in on the terrorists,
what's the Democrats' answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no!

THE PRESIDENT: Just say no. When it comes to detaining terrorists,
what's the Democrat's answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no!

THE PRESIDENT: When it comes to questioning terrorists, what's the
Democrat's answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no!

THE PRESIDENT: When it comes to trying terrorists, what's the
Democrat's answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no!

THE PRESIDENT: And so when the Democrats ask for your vote on November
7th, what's your answer?

AUDIENCE: Just say no! (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: No doubt in my mind, I can count on Shelley Sekula-Gibbs
to make sure that our professionals have the tools necessary to protect
you in this dangerous world. But the best way to protect you, the best
way to make sure that an enemy is unable to do us harm, is to stay on
the offense and keep the enemy on the run. It is hard to plot, plan,
and attack when you're on the run. (Applause.)

And that's precisely what we're doing. I can't tell you how honored I
am to be a Commander-in-Chief of a military full of decent and honorable
Americans who have volunteered to protect this country. (Applause.)
And one of the things that I make a pledge to the families of those who
wear our uniform is that we'll continue to make sure our troops have all
that is necessary to be able to do the job that I have asked them to do.
And I know that Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs will be a strong and
steady vote for the men and women of the United States military.
(Applause.)

One of the lessons of September the 11th is that this nation must take
threats seriously, before they come home to hurt us. We must take every
threat we see overseas very seriously. Otherwise, if we don't, there's
an enemy that lurks and intends to hit us again. I saw a threat in
Saddam Hussein. Members of the both political parties saw a threat in
Saddam Hussein. The United Nations saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. I
made the right decision to get Saddam Hussein out of power. (Applause.)

We're in a global struggle against these killers. And the war is fought
on many fronts. But right now the central front in this war on terror
is Iraq. Oh, I hear them in Washington say Iraq is a distraction from
the war on terror. Well, they shouldn't take my word for it, they
should take the word of Osama bin Laden, who has said that the fight in
Iraq is the third world war. He said victory for the terrorists in Iraq
will mean America's defeat and disgrace forever. That is what the enemy
has said. It's important for all Americans to listen carefully to the
words of the people who would do us harm.

Now I want you to listen to the words of a senior Democrat in the House
of Representatives, one of the leaders. She said, the President says
that fighting them there -- she's talking about Iraq -- makes it less
likely we will have to fight them

here. This is exactly what I've said. She went on to say, the opposite
is true; because we're fighting them there, it may become more likely we
will have to fight them here.

Here's what the person doesn't understand: Iraq is not the reason the
terrorists are in the war against us. I would remind the House
Democrat, our troops were not in Iraq when the terrorists first attacked
the World Trade Center in 1993. (Applause.) We weren't in Iraq when
they blew up our embassies in Kenya or Tanzania, or blew up the USS
Cole. (Applause.) And we were not in Iraq when they killed nearly
3,000 on September the 11th, 2001. We do not create terrorists by
fighting the terrorists. The best way to protect you is to stay on the
offense and bring the terrorists to justice wherever we find them.
(Applause.)

Our goal in Iraq is clear: It's victory. We want to help this young
democracy grow so it can sustain itself, and govern itself, and defend
itself, and become an ally in the war on terror. And the fighting is
tough. I know it's tough, and you know it's tough. It's tough because
we fight an enemy that has no conscience. We fight an enemy that can't
stand the thought of a free society. We fight an enemy whose ideology
is the opposite of our ideology.

The enemy killed innocent men, women, and children. They filmed the
atrocities, and they broadcast them for the world to see. Our enemies
hope these violence images will cause us to lose our nerve and pull out
before the job is done. They don't understand the United States of
America. We will not run from thugs and assassins. (Applause.)

I'll make sure our commanders have what they need to complete this job.
If they want more troops, they get more troops. If they want less
troops, they get less troops. They are flexible. We are constantly
adjusting our tactics to meet the tactics of the enemy.

We got another asset going for us beside our military -- and these are
brave Iraqis. They have suffered unspeakable violence. Yet they're
committed to a free society. They're committed to reject the extremists
and radicals who try to overturn their will. They voted, nearly 12
million people, to say we want to be free. It's in the United States'
interest to help them succeed. It's in our interest to defeat the
radicals. It's in our interest to defeat the extremists. The only way
we won't succeed in Iraq is by leaving before the job is done.
(Applause.)

You listen to the debate about Iraq, the Democrat plan for success --
well, they don't have a plan for success. (Laughter.) It's a serious
political party in the midst of a war, and they have no plan for
success. They don't even have a plan for victory. (Laughter.) Last
week one Democrat senator described her party's position: We haven't
coalesced around a single plan, but we're in general agreement on the
basic principles. She's right -- the only principle about which they
can agree is get out before the job is done.

You know, they put it different ways. Some say, immediate redeployment.
Some say they wouldn't spend another dime on our troops in Iraq. Some
say that the idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that
unfortunately is just plain wrong. Well, however they put it, their
approach comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: The Democrat goal is to get out of Iraq. The Republican
goal is to win in Iraq. (Applause.)

I'm not saying that these Democrats are unpatriotic, I'm just saying
they're wrong. (Applause.) You can't win a war unless you're willing
to fight the war. (Applause.) Retreat from Iraq before the job was
done would embolden an enemy and make this country more vulnerable to
attack; would allow the terrorists to gain a new safe haven, which is
precisely what they said is part of their plan in Iraq. And why do they
want a safe haven? They want a safe haven like they had in Afghanistan,
so they can launch further attacks.

Retreat from Iraq would strengthen the hands of these radicals and
extremists and enable them to recruit better. Retreat from Iraq before
the job was done would dishonor the sacrifice of the men and women who
have worn the uniform of the United States of America in Iraq to protect
us. (Applause.) The consequences of failure in Iraq would be felt for
generations.

You see, the enemy has clearly stated they want us to retreat. They
want to topple moderate governments. They want their extremism to
become the philosophy of a governing structure that stretches from
Indonesia to Spain. It's called a caliphate. That's what they've said.
Imagine a Middle East in which violent forms of extremists compete for
power, moderate governments are overturned, oil-rich states are
controlled by the radicals who will use the energy to create blackmail
for the United States, and in the midst a country with a nuclear weapon
that can't stand us -- 30 years from now, if that were to happen, people
will look back and they'll say, what happened to that generation in
2006; how come they couldn't see the impending danger; how come they
couldn't see the threat?

I want you to know I see the threat. That is why we will support our
troops, we will fight, and we will win in Iraq. (Applause.)

We've got another powerful tool at our disposal, and it's called
freedom. I would like to share a story with you about a recent
experience I had. Well, it's when I went down to Elvis's place.
(Laughter.)

You might remember my guest was the then sitting Prime Minister of
Japan. Laura said, why you going down there? I said, because I never
been. (Laughter.) By the way, she decided to come, too. Prime
minister Koizumi wanted to go because he loved Elvis.

But I wanted to tell a story to the American people about the power of
liberty, and I want to share it with you right quick. You see, after
the Japanese attacked America, where more people -- by the way, more
people died on September the 11th than the attack of Pearl Harbor. When
they attacked, a lot of brave Americans, including one George H.W. Bush,
volunteered to defend America. (Applause.)

I bet a lot of folks out here had relatives who did the same thing.
They said, I volunteer -- I volunteer to protect this country against a
mortal enemy. I'm flying down on Air Force One with the Prime Minister
of the sworn -- the country that used to be our sworn enemy, talking
about keeping the peace. I was talking to him about the fact that Iraq
had a thousand troops -- I mean, Japan had a thousand troops in Iraq
because he knows what I know: In this ideological struggle, when we
find young democracies, which will serve as a major defeat for
ideologues who hate, that we got to support them. We talked about
convincing the leader of North Korea to give up his nuclear weapon for
the sake of peace.

In other words, we were talking about peace. Isn't it interesting, my
dad fought the Japanese as a sworn enemy; his son is sitting down with
the leader of that country talking about peace. (Applause.) Let me
tell you something, liberty -- liberty has got the capacity to change an
enemy into an ally. And liberty has got the capacity to change a region
of the world that is so desperate for freedom into a place of peace.
Some day an American President will be sitting down with duly elected
leaders from the Middle East talking about the peace. And a generation
of Americans will be better off. (Applause.)

So these are the stakes in this election, and I thank you for giving me
a chance to come out and urge you on, to urge you to go to the polls and
to take your friends. Find Republicans, discerning Democrats,
discerning independents and remind them, if you want more money in your
pocket, vote Republican. And if you want a party who will take the
steps necessary to protect you today and to protect a generation of
Americans coming up, vote for Shelley and vote for Republicans.